Photo: VazDrae · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Black Earth commutes out: there are 0.4 jobs for every working resident
296 jobs are based in Black Earth for 765 working residents. The two grades for Black Earth are B+ for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Only 3% stay in Black Earth for work; outside it, Madison is the main destination (35%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Black Earth: the figures worth knowing
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Black Earth
On income, poverty and job access, Black Earth is better than 69% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate is its strongest input (6.1%, U.S. 12.5%); household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($75,625, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
Unemployment (3.7%) is left out: Black Earth’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Black Earth could be anywhere from C+ to A.
Where Black Earth’s working residents head each day
Where Black Earth clocks in
35% of workers
7% of workers
6% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
In and out of Black Earth on a workday
On a workday 745 residents head out to work, 20 work right here, and 276 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Black Earth on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
What Black Earth’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Black Earth, 2013 → 2023: 356 → 296. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Black Earth’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Black Earth’s commute takes about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Black Earth workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 580 commuters (the 20% who work from home are left out). Across Wisconsin: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Black Earth’s commute, mile by mile
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
For most of Black Earth, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Black Earth is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Black Earth near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 726 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 7.3% of Black Earth households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Black Earth’s commuters take a bus or train.
Black Earth places 1,132nd of 5,794 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 47 | Wind Point WI | 1,620 | $143K | 0.4% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,130 | Omao HI | 1,528 | $102K | 3.1% | 7.6% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,131 | Walnut Grove GA | 1,735 | $83K | 9.7% | 3.2% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,132 | Black Earth WI | 1,523 | $76K | 6.1% | 3.7% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,133 | Custer Township IL | 1,347 | $122K | 11.3% | 11.6% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,134 | Rock Grove Township IL | 1,458 | $100K | 7.1% | 5.8% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,794 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Black Earth, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Black Earth: questions
What is the median household income in Black Earth?
$75,625 (±$15,195) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Black Earth?
6.1%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Black Earth?
24 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Black Earth work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Madison (35%, 16 mi), Middleton (7%, 12 mi), Mazomanie (6%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Black Earth walkable?
Black Earth is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Black Earth without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Black Earth, from the people who make the trip.
More of Black Earth
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.